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With the Short Term unit 鈥淩eading Chaucer: A Brief Introduction to The Canterbury Tales,鈥� President Elaine Tuttle Hansen returns to teaching for the first time in a decade.

鈥淗ow to do any Chaucer in five weeks has been my quandary,鈥� says Hansen, a Chaucer expert whose affection for the 14th-century poet even led her to fashion a previous e-mail address from his name.

Her solution to the tight schedule is to focus more on reading Middle English, the language of Chaucer, than on analyzing the tales. 鈥淧eople are intimidated by it 鈥� but it doesn鈥檛 take long, if you really work, to find that you can read Middle English quite easily,鈥� she says.

One reason that Hansen is eager to teach the course is that she wants to better understand Short Term itself, with its controversial mix of units intensely rigorous, boldly experimental, and wondrously easy. Too, she misses the connection with students that鈥檚 unique to teaching.

But, during this intense year of fundraising and construction planning, she also sees 鈥淩eading Chaucer鈥� as a kind of oasis.

鈥淚 deeply miss the intellectual activity that goes into preparing a course,鈥� Hansen says. 鈥淚t brings me back to things I love to think about that have nothing to do with the routine business of the college.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檒l be profoundly rejuvenating 鈥� that鈥檚 my hope.鈥�